Kissing Hermione Granger
by MagicalxMinx
Summary: There were a series of moments, a series of conversations, and people, and relationships, and losses, that all lead up to this one moment of pure perfection in Fred Weasley's life. Kissing Hermione Granger was by far the most magical thing he had ever experienced. And for a wizard, that was pretty impressive.
1. Chapter 1

Fred Weasley had always been fascinated by a certain bushy-haired bookworm.

He met her when he was thirteen, and was instantly interested. Of course, to be fair, at thirteen he was instantly interested in nearly every witch that crossed his line of vision. This particular girl, though, was different. He wasn't interested in her for romantic reasons, he was simply altogether fascinated by her confidence.

She was a tiny, eleven year old girl, her hair nearly twice the size of her head, with too large teeth, and a nose too high in the air. Still, he gave her the respect she demanded when she strode into his compartment only twenty minutes after the Hogwarts Express departed from the magical platform.

There she stood, all four feet, eleven inches of her, dressed already in her first years' robes, a strict expression plastered on her face and a look in her eyes that said quite loudly "I dare you to try to make fun of me." She was all confidence as she took a breath, glanced at them, and asked her question.

"Have any of you seen a toad? A boy called Neville has lost one, and I'm helping him search for it." She stated, her voice strong and professional for such a small girl.

Fred's identical twin brother George was the first to reply.

"I think Angelina mentioned seeing a toad earlier."

The look on the girls face softened slightly, though she still had a guarded air, as though the usual reaction she got to this question was the compartment door being slammed shut in her face.

"Yeah, she did mention that, didn't she Freddie?" asked Lee Jordan, roommate of, and best friend to, the twins.

"I do believe you're correct, gentlemen." Fred replied.

Fred knew they were right, because he had held on to absolutely everything Angelina Johnson had ever said to-or-around him. She was another one of those girls he was quite interested in.

"Why don't you escort this nice young lass to dear Angie's compartment, oh brother of mine?" George said, offering his brother a suggestive wink.

Fred had decided that this would be the year he either went forward with the "Angelina thing" or dropped it completely, and George was ready to give any sort of push he needed.

"Sure I will, come with me, madame." Fred said, sweeping his arms to the hallway.

"I'm Fred, by the way, Weasley." He told her as they headed down the corridor.

"I'm Hermione Granger. I see that you're in Gryffindor house! I really hope that I get into Gryffindor as well, I've read nothing but incredible things about those from that particular house, and I think it would be just amazing to be considered brave among all of these other witches and wizards." She babbled in reply to his introduction.

"I can see you as a Ravenclaw, actually. You strike me as the smart type." Fred complimented.

Hermione Granger stopped walking and mumbled something.

"What was that?" Fred asked.

"I said, I'm not just smart."

"I didn't mean that as an insult. I hardly even know you, I couldn't possibly insult you. Besides, Ravenclaw house is very esteemed. All of the are very special in their own ways. Except for Slytherin. I'll never talk to you again as long as we both shall live if you're put into Slytherin. Sorry, Weasley rule." He joked lightly.

Her face became slightly worried. He then watched as her eyes flashed with something, her face then becoming a bright pink.

"Well, if I'm in Gryffindor, will you talk to me?" she asked quietly.

It was a shy question, that was certain, and that fact alone was shocking to Fred. He had known this girl for little over ten minutes, but already he knew she didn't do "shy".

"Well 'course I will." He replied brightly, slinging an arm over her shoulders.

"I'll even give you a tour tomorrow morning before classes!"

Wait. What?

He wasn't sure where that had come from. Since when did Fred Weasley, of the infamous Weasley twins, EVER offer a tour of the school to anyone? The answer was never. But still, he couldn't help but have a sneaking suspicion that he would be holding his breath tonight, waiting with fingers crossed to see if "Granger, Hermione" would be sorted into his house.

Hermione's face lit up at the offer.

"That would be wonderful! It would be really quite nice to have a friend already to show me the ropes. Some things you can't read…" she blushed again, looking as though she thought she may have pushed her luck with the "friend" comment.

"You know what? I'll still be your friend, even if you're in Slytherin." He said with a wink.

Was he flirting?

No. That wasn't possible. Because Angelina Johnson was inside of the compartment, and this was just a bushy haired first year, whom he knew nothing about.

Even though it did sort of sound like they had a date tomorrow…

But no…that wasn't right…he was being a friend to a girl who needed someone to look out for her. After all, she was going to be a prime target for bullying with hair like that, and it was his civic duty to protect her.

Even if he never cared about protecting anyone who wasn't his baby sister before this point.

"And risk breaking a family rule?" she replied, a small grin on her face and an eyebrow raised.

"Hermione Granger, you'll soon learn, that I am all about breaking rules." With that he pushed her lightly into the compartment that held Angelina Johnson, Katie Bell, and Alicia Spinnet.

He turned on his heel and walked back to his compartment, a grin on his face that he knew his twin would believe to be caused by seeing Angelina.

A fact that he would continue to allow his dear brother to believe, since the truth was far, far, too confusing for him to figure out at the moment.

A/N: WELL! I'm back! Oh my gosh, I feel like I've been gone forever, and I've missed writing terribly. Even more than that, I've missed Fred and Hermione terribly! So terribly that I'm supplying you with a MULTICHAPTER STORY, which I never ever ever ever ever ever do, what with me being the number one supporter of one-shots!

There's no real excuse for my absence from the fanfiction writing world, other than the fact that I've been horribly busy. I just switched my major in college, I've written, produced, and directed two plays, directed a musical, costumed some shows, and just been crazy insanely busy. But I'm back, hopefully to stay, but at least long enough to finish this story! Leave me some comments, hopefully I'll have chapter 2 up later today!

Love you all!

~MxxM


	2. Chapter 2

Throughout their years at Hogwarts, Fred and Hermione maintained a friendship. Albeit a quiet one. A few days after the train meeting, Fred began to date Angelina Johnson, and he and Hermione talked less and less. Of course, everytime they passed in the hall they would make small talk, Fred would be quick to defend her if anyone had an unkind word, but they had a completely platonic sometimes-friendship that both of them were satisfied with. She had become good friends with his younger prat of a brother, and his mum had quickly decided they would one day be married.

And that was that.

Fred had dropped his fascination with her quickly, until the war ended, and finally he got to look at her again. She was lovely, intelligent, and brave. And dating Ron.

And so, Fred had once again pushed his attraction to the back of his mind, knowing that if Hermione liked his brother (though he wasn't quite sure how that was possible), he would not be the one to get in the way of that.

At twenty seven years of age, Fred Weasley was proud to announce (to anyone willing to sit around and listen, mind you) that for the third consecutive year, he had taken the title of England's Most Eligible Bachelor (Wizard Edition).

He enjoyed everything about the title, from all that it implied about his appearance, to the photo shoots and non-stop pile of fan mail from lovely ladies promising to rid him of his title.

Fred was rather used to being desired by now. What he wasn't used to, was the feeling of being catapulted back in time, to his thirteen year old self, with sweaty palms, crummy jokes, and a familiar, but long locked away, fluttering in his gut.

In other words, it had been quite some time since any woman, witch or muggle, had made him feel nervous.

Hermione-Bloody-Granger was of course threatening that, he noted, as the aforementioned witch strode into the restaurant he was currently at.

"Fred? Freddie, love? Yes or no?" chirped the annoying voice of Fred's latest fling. Amber was looking at him with excited eyes, offering in her hand a key to her flat. He snapped his attention back to her.

"Amber, listen, we've only been out a handful of times…I'm not moving in with you."

The girls face fell quickly. "Fred, you're not exactly getting younger here. Don't you think it's time to settle down a bit?" her forced-calm voice was even more irritating than usual, making Fred roll his eyes, catching a brief glance at Hermione sitting at the bar, in the process.

"I think that when I meet the right girl, I will have no problem settling down." He realized his tone was a bit more harsh than he had intended, and he saw her eyes turn dangerously black.

"Well, Fred, you've test driven nearly every girl in England. Perhaps there isn't a "right girl" for you." She said icily, grabbing her bag and leaving without another word.

Fred shrugged his shoulders, putting some money on the table and stretching, before getting up and walking over to the bar.

"Well if it isn't the smartest witch of our time." He said happily into Hermione's ear.

She jumped, then relaxed once she recognized his voice.

"I'm not just smart, remember Mr. Most Eligible?" she shot back, grinning at him.

His stomach did flip flops.

He ignored it.

"How in the heck have you been?!" he asked her, slipping into the empty seat next to her.

Hermione and Ron had broken up nearly five years ago after a destructive six month relationship. The two were on good terms still, they simply found a relationship was not for them. She had moved to Australia a year after the break up to be with her parents.

As a war hero, the Daily Prophet often did stories on her. Her whereabouts were gossiped over, and her relationships, rumored and real, would regularly make the front page. And while he read every article about her, he had lost touch with the family friend. After four years of no direct contact, it was nice to see her again.

"I've been good! I'm back in England, hopefully to stay, I'm getting lots of job offers, none of which seem the least bit appealing, apparently I'm seeing both Dean Thomas AND your brother Charlie, according to the Prophet. You know, the usual." She took a sip of her tea and glanced over at him.

"How are you? I can't believe it's been four years since we've had an actual conversation." She asked softly.

"I'm not bad! The shop has been incredibly popular, we've opened a couple other branches and extended our mail order catalogs to other magic schools. How long have you been back? Did you see Mum or Ginny yet?"

"I just got in this morning! And I'm actually waiting on your lovely sister now." She replied with a smile.

"Well listen, I've got to get back to the shop, but why don't we get dinner tonight to catch up? Meet me at the shop at 7?" he asked, smiling at her sweetly, the smile that won over all of the girls he'd ever been with, and waited for her to reply.

"Sure, that sounds lovely." She agreed, rolling her eyes at his smirk, but smiling back at him anyway.

"So, how was lunch with Amber?" asked Katie Bell-Weasley, George's wife of two years, as Fred walked into the shop.

"It was alright. Until she asked me to move in with her and told me I was getting old." He replied.

"So let me guess…you broke up with her." George stated.

"Well of course I broke up with her, she was bloody mental. We've gone out three times."

"Okay, Peter Pan." Katie said, clucking her tongue disapprovingly as she went back to straightening the shelves.

"Who the bloody hell is Peter Pan?" he asked, looking first at Katie, then at is twin.

"It's an old muggle fairytale, about a boy who didn't want to grow up." Katie answered before walking into the back room.

"I know your fond of that witch, Georgie, but I'm not exactly liking her today." Fred said, throwing an empty box of trick wands at George's head.

"Yeah, yeah. You know she's just looking out for you, mate. Twenty seven down seem like a good age to find the right gal and settle down, doesn't it?"

Fred knew George was concerned. That he only wanted him to be as happy as all of the other (married) Weasley's.

But all Fred wanted to do was have a little bit of fun.

And have dinner with that pretty little witch from his past.


End file.
